Armed Forces: Injuries

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel have sustained  (a) damage to,  (b) partial loss and  (c) total loss of (i) upper and (ii) lower limbs in (A) Afghanistan and (B) Iraq in each of the last 36 months; what proportion of such injuries in each category became infected; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: holding answer 9 September 2009
	The following table gives the numbers of surviving UK Service personnel whose injuries included those coded as a traumatic or surgical amputation, partial or complete, for either upper or lower limbs between 1 April 2006 and 30 September 2009 as a result of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. This injury code covers injuries ranging from the loss of part of a finger or toe up to the loss of an entire limb or limbs. To indicate the number with severe multiple limb injuries, those classified as "significant multiple amputees" have suffered limb amputations above the wrist or ankle on more than one limb; in other words, they have lost at least two hands or feet. Note that there were no significant multiple amputees arising from operations in Iraq in this period.
	
		
			  Period  Afghanistan partial or complete limb amputees  of which significant multiple amputees  Iraq partial or complete limb amputees 
			 April 6 - December 6 7 — 5 
			 January 7 - December 7 14  10 
			 January 8 - December 8 27 6 — 
			 January 9 - September 9 32 13 0